At 50, Puah doesn’t look her age at all—nor does she allow it to define her choices in life. With 30 years of rock-climbing experience under her belt and also a Spartan Trifecta medallist, this fintech trailblazer’s motto in life is this: it is either 100 per cent, or nothing at all. She made a point to instil this in all three of her children as well: her eldest was a taekwondo champ who did triathlons and ran for the state; her second child a competitive swimmer and her youngest a windsurfer.

“In whatever I do, whether it’s marathons, races or sports, I aim for the highest level possible,” Puah states. “And that’s to reach a competitive level! I like to push myself to my limits, and that rush of being able to conquer a challenge is always exhilarating.”

An adventurer, fitness fanatic and adrenaline junkiewith a fear of heights, rock-climbing seemed to be the perfect sport made for Puah; with every climb she’s conquered, her confidence grows, and her focus heightens. She describes the sport being meditative in its own way, from strategising a route to being hyperfocused on the next step whenever she scales a wall.

See also: Gabrielle Tan-Helfman Conquers The Everest Base Camp With Willpower And She Thinks You Can, Too

“The philosophy of rock-climbing can be applied to my work,” Puah says. “Whatever the issue that arises in the office, you identify the problem first, so the next step is how we solve it. It’s super task-oriented. You look at the issue from afar first and strategise for the best possible outcome. Even if you fail anyway, just go back to square one and reflect! Sure, you’ll feel disappointed and demotivated at some point, but the task has nothing to do with your emotions. Human errors are technical errors; we learn from them, and do better.

“Say, for example, if you are unable to finish climbing your wall or fall in the middle of it, think about what went wrong and then rectify it instead of fixating on the mistake.”

Always in constant motion, Puah is a firm believer in self-care—even if it was in the form of extreme sports. It helped that she already had a competitive personality. “I remember this one time when I was at a Spartan race, there was this obstacle course where I had to hang onto a rope and hoist myself across from one end to another,” recalls Puah. “My kids were in the crowd too, and I remember the shock on the audience’s faces when they realised I was their mother.”

Despite the many responsibilities of being a fulltime CEO and a mother of three, Puah tackles it all head-on as she did with any challenge that came her way. There were 24 hours in a day after all, so she believes that one is able make their time count. Discipline is key, she stresses, but having fun while you’re in the moment is just as important as well.

“I want to show my kids that age is really just a number,” she says. “If you put your mind to it and give it your all, you’re able to achieve it. Easier said than done, but it’s not impossible! It’s like running, you see. I don’t love it at all. But I remember my coach telling me to just do it, and if I did, I can brag about it. Once I thought about it that way, that if I could just run this mile, I can do everything else even better.”

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